Mending Fences in Malaysia

Updated Nov. 17, 2004 12:01 a.m. ET

By meeting with dissident politician Anwar Ibrahim this week, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has shown that he's ready to break with his acerbic predecessor Mahathir Mohamad, giving us one more reason to think that Malaysia's political temperature is cooling down.

Mending fences will clearly benefit all sides. Mr. Anwar's visit to the prime minister's open house reception in celebration of the end of Ramadan may have been unexpected, but it wasn't surprising. The outspoken Mr. Anwar has made it clear that he...